] Figuring out what the future holds for workers in his
] predicament -- and those who are about to be -- is key to
] understanding a historic shift in the U.S. workforce, a
] shift that has been changing the rules for a crucial part
] of the middle class.
]
] This transformation is no longer just about factory
] workers, whose ranks have declined by 5 million in the
] past 25 years as manufacturing moved to countries with
] cheaper labor. All kinds of jobs that pay in the middle
] range -- Clark's $17 an hour, or about $35,000 a year,
] was smack in the center -- are vanishing, including
] computer-code crunchers, produce managers, call-center
] operators, travel agents and office clerks.